James Gunn Gives Blue Beetle A Shout Out As It Arrives On Netflix

Blue Beetle is finding new life on Netflix. The 2023 DC Comics movie arrived on the streaming service recently, instantly becoming one of the most-streamed movies on the platform. Now, DC Studios co-head and Superman director James Gunn has taken to social media to give the movie a shout out.

Taking to the social media platform Threads, as well as his Instagram Stories, Gunn shared a poster for Blue Beetle with the caption, “Blue Beetle now on Netflix.” This might come as a surprise for a few reasons. For one, DC is owned by Warner Bros. The studio has its own streaming service, HBO Max. That’s where most of the current DC Studios content lives. That includes shows like Creature Commandos and Peacemaker. It also generally includes DC movies after they leave theaters.

However, Warner Bros. has been licensing movies to other streaming services lately to increase revenue. Currently, that’s benefitting Blue Beetle. Directed by Angel Manuel Soto with Xolo Maridueña in the lead role, the movie was one of the last put together while the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), aka the Snyderverse, was still a thing. That hurt the movie commercially, but it was well-liked by critics and audiences. Gunn is planning to bring the character into the new DCU, with Maridueña due to reprise the role.

Here is the synopsis for Blue Beetle.

“Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero Blue Beetle.”

Blue Beetle bombed at the box office with just $130 million against a budget of well over $100 million. Even so, Gunn sees the potential in the Jaime Reyes version of the character. Last year, it was revealed that an animated series based on the character was in the works, with Maridueña set to return.

“I’m ready to come back. We’re hitting hard this animated project, hoping to get this settled out this year to show everyone next year,” Maridueña said earlier this year in an interview with The Direct. It’s also important to note that a Booster Gold series is also in the works for HBO Max. The two characters have been linked together for years in the comics. So we seem poised to see more of Blue Beetle in the not-too-distant future.